WHAT WE DISLIKED:

Introduction

As AMD’s 7000 series lineup has developed, we’ve seen the flagship 7900 and budget 7700 cards, and also the middle ground of the 7800 models. It’s here in the mainstream performance segment where we find something interesting developing with AMD’s lineup. The Radeon 7870 has seen two iterations of sorts, with the original Pitcairn-based GPU products, then the GHz Edition cards that have clock speeds of at least 1GHz. Now we’re seeing a new derivative, with the new Tahiti-based 7870 GPU.

It’s essentially a handcuffed version of the 7950, so the performance should be good against the competiton, but without the price tag of the premium 7950. It’s a bit of an interesting choice by AMD, rather than naming this card the 7930, but pehaps that somehow sounds too low-class for a 7900 model? Regardless of the name, the new 7870 sits well in the marketplace around the $250 price for gamers who want a good blend of performance and value.

Specifically we’re examining the PowerColor PCS 7870 Myst Edition. It comes with the newly neutered chip and also a sleek cooler that has some beefy heatpipe with direct touch technology for lower temperatures.

What’s particularly enticing is this PowerColor card qualifies for an AMD promotional offer that tosses in two A+ gaming titles worth $120 into the package. That sound like an outstanding deal, even if the performance isn’t quite as stellar as the 7900 models.

Let’s take a closer look at the PowerColor PCS 7870 Myst Edition and see how it fares.